JEHOVAH'S
WITNESS
GOES TO PENAL COLONY FOR 6 YEARS FOR READING "INCORRECT" BIBLE
TRANSLATION
The
Supreme Court of
the republic of Crimea (within the jurisdiction of the R.F.) on
26 May left in
force the sentence of the court of the first instance with
respect to Dzhankoy
resident Sergei Filatov. As a correspondent for the Credo.Press
portal reports,
citing a source among the Jehovah's Witnesses, the convict's
guilt consists in
his reading an "incorrect" (ruled to be extremist) translation
of the
Bible along with members of his family and friends. For this,
Filatov was sentenced
to six years incarceration. The court did not take into
consideration either
the procedural violations in this trial or the demands of the
United Nations
Working Group.
Previously
the
Dzhankoy district court sentenced Sergei Filatov, the father of
four children,
two of whom are minors, to six years in a penal colony of
general regime,
having found him guilty of "undermining the foundations of the
constitutional structure and security of the state."
According
to the
testimony of the defense, the investigation illegally altered
the evidence in
the case and engaged false witnesses and experts who did not
provide diplomas
confirming their competence. At the same time, the court refused
to consider
the evidence that Filatov's defense requested be reviewed.
Following
the
decision of the appellate instance, Filatov's sentence took
legal effect. In
which colony the believer will serve his term is still unknown.
Since 5 March
he has been held in SIZO No. 1 for the republic of Crimea and
Sevastopol.
"I know
for sure
that I did not commit any crime either before God or before the
state. I am
being convicted for the fact that I am a Christian and I
consider my faith to
be true . . . and I cannot renounce it," Sergei Filatov said in
his final
statement, addressed to the Dzhankoy district court. "Whatever
may be the
sentence issued to me in this case, I will, in any case, leave
here justified
in the eyes of my family and my friends."
In April
2017, the
Russian Supreme Court ruled all 396 religious organizations of
Jehovah's
Witnesses on Russian territory to be extremist and liquidated.
(tr. by PDS,
posted 27 May 2020)
Background articles:
Fourth Jehovah's Witness since 2017 imprisoned for six years,
Mar. 5, 2020
Jehovah's Witness in occupied Ukrainian
territory penalized by Russians,
Feb. 25, 2020
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